For the user's convenience, most beverage containers are provided with some type of easy-opening feature, examples of which include a pre-scored pull tab in the container's lid or an adhesive tape covering a pre-cut dispensing aperture. These types of easy-open beverage containers are generally acceptable if the container's contents are entirely consumed or dispensed shortly after opening. However, in instances where the container's contents are only partially consumed and stored, these containers are objectionable and inconvenient because they cannot be reclosed. The absence of a reclosing feature not only makes it difficult to keep the container's contents fresh and foreign matter such as dirt and dust from entering the container, but also makes it very difficult and awkward to shake the container to evenly redistribute solids if present such as juice pulp.
Recent attempts to provide an easy-open beverage container with reclosing means have only achieved partial success. One such attempt is generally shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,164,303 and 4,232,797, both to Waterbury. Waterbury discloses several embodiments of an articulated closure element that is hingedly attached to the top lid of a container having a peripheral rim. The closure element has a depending plug or bead on its undersurface that is shaped complementary to a pre-cut dispensing aperture in the container's lid. After the container is initially opened and a portion of its contents dispensed, the container may be reclosed by returning the closure element to its original position such that the depending plug or bead enters the dispensing aperture.
Although Waterbury's articulated closure element does allow a rimmed beverage container to be reclosed after it is initially opened, consumers nevertheless find this general type of reclosable container to be objectionable. Specifically, when a portion of the beverage is dispensed, some of the beverage inevitably becomes trapped between the container's dispensing aperture and upstanding rim. After the container is returned to its upright position, this residual tends to spread out over the container's lid and, if the beverage is sweet such as a fruit juice, dries to a sticky mess that attracts dust, dirt, insects, and other foreign matter.
FIG. 7 of commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,216 to Byrd illustrates a pouring/reclosing device that is intended to be attached to a container's top lid after the container has been opened. In addition to having a reclosing feature, Byrd's device includes a downwardly-projecting, U-shaped flange in the base portion that receives and snugly engages the container's upstanding rim when the device is applied to the container's top lid, and a pouring lip/drain surface integrally formed between the base portion's dispensing aperture and the downwardly projecting U-shaped flange. After Byrd's device is secured to a rimmed beverage container's lid and the container is tipped, the integral pouring lip/drain surface channels the container's contents up and over the top lid's peripheral rim. Then, when the container is returned to its upright position, the integral pouring lip/drain surface channels any residual product remaining between the top lid's peripheral rim and dispensing aperture back into the container, thereby avoiding the messiness problem discussed above.
Although consumers generally approve of the Byrd reclosing device, it has been found that in some instances it is somewhat difficult to attach the device to rimmed containers that have been manufactured in a certain fashion. Specifically, it has been found that for container bodies and lids made and assembled in a high-speed manufacturing setting such as that described in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,936 (Deflander), which is incorporated herein by reference, the location and orientation of the lid's pre-cut or pre-scored dispensing aperture with respect to the periperal rim can vary. If the variation is too great, either the reclosing plug of Byrd's device fits the lid's aperture while the downwardly projecting U-shaped flange does not precisely fit the peripheral rim, or vice-versa.
In light of the above, a principal object of the present invention is to provide a rimmed container with an attachable device that can be used to reclose an easy-open container for subsequently storing any remaining beverage and, if applicable, allow the container to be shaken in order to evenly redistribute solids such as fruit pulp.
Another principal object of the present invention is to provide a rimmed container with a device that channels the container's contents up and over the container's rim when the container is tipped and also channels any residual product remaining between the rim and the dispensing aperture back into the container when the container is returned to its upright position.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a rimmed container with a reclosing device that has a flexible pouring lip which, when the device is applied to the container's top lid, deforms into a pouring/drainback surface that is independent of the location and orientation of the container's dispensing aperture with respect to the top lid's peripheral rim.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a container having a pre-scored dispensing aperture with a device that can be used to initially open the container.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, drawings, and appended claims.